Interview with Rocco Leo Gaglioti

Miuccia Prada said that "what you wear is how you present yourself to the world. That's especially true today, when human contacts are so quick. Fashion is instant language." New York Fashion Week SS 2016 hosted over one-hundred runway shows and numerous presentations. However, what is often over looked and excluded is the immense effort put forth for a fifteen minute runway show. Very often the individuals, critics, buyers, writers, and bloggers attending the events focus on the final product and omit the human factor, the stress, and the effort behind each look and collection. Very often the effort is simply minimized, or worse, misunderstood. This year Producer, Director, and Fashion News Live Celebrity Rocco Leo Gaglioti hosted a premier of his short documentary on one of the most sought after and exclusive designers in the world Mr. Furne One. Through his movie, Inside Amato, aptly named after Furne One’s exclusive Couture collection, Rocco Gaglioti immerses the viewer in the behind the scenes aspect of fashion that few will ever witness and even fewer have ever witness first hand. This is Fashion On Rock’s exclusive on Inside Amato the world of Haute Couture.

FoR: We are here with Rocco Leo Gaglioti for your movie premier here in New York. Congratulations on the LA premier, I understand that it was fantastic!

Rocco: Thank you

FoR: You probably have quite a few of these [interviews] coming up…

Rocco: [laughs]

FoR: How did you decide which designer to work with? What inspired you to actually do this specifically?

Rocco: Alright, well…I always push myself to the most challenging road….If I have a decision to go either the hard route or the easy route I go the most challenging route. I believe that no matter how old we are that no matter how much experience we have…no matter how educated we are we can always learn more and develop and continue growing and there’s always someone we can learn from. So…the reason why I picked Amato Couture Furne One is because he’s never done this before…he’s the most challenging. He lives in Dubai, there were massive cultural difference. I am an American Italian, I had nothing, I had no…truly I had no understanding of the Islamic culture…Not that, he’s not [Muslim] but he lives in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. So to go there and do a film was very challenging. And I wanted to challenge myself with a designer that has always been untouchable.

FoR: Well you definitely accomplished it! Do you see yourself doing anything like this moving forward? I know that designers are extremely private. Designers such as McQueen, for example, and as a matter of fact throughout his entire career [he only] had one [official] photographer that was authorized to do any type of publication on anything that he had going on and to date there is only one book, one photography book, that is actually acknowledged by McQueen. There’s only that source that came out where people can see the evolution of his career. Do you see yourself following this…I hate to say to its end? But, do you see yourself following Furn One until there are no more designs? Do you see yourself doing another designer? How do you see your career progressing within the parameters of this film and what you’ve done here?

Rocco: I see myself doing another film. I’m entertaining some ideas and some thoughts. I’m either going to do something in the same genre, or something completely different that I’ve never even thought of. I don’t believe that we all need to conform to one thing. I think we’re all multifaceted. We have so many aspects to us as humans, and there’s a lot of things that people don’t necessarily know about each other until we intimately share each other’s lives and then we open up to each other in these aspects, right?

FoR: Right…

Rocco: So…I have these ideas and concepts and…other people may think they’re warped or weird or bizarre…I want to explore the inner depths of a unexplored, let’s say, universe of creativity and to define that. I would say just like continuing to push myself as an artist, as a director, as a producer…to challenge myself as hard as I can and see what the outcome is. What you’re going to see tonight was very challenging on many different levels for me, on many different levels. So..so for my next feature I will continue doing film. I love it. I did Fashion News Live [FNL]. I’ve been doing FNL since 2003 and I’ve interviewed like EVERYONE [laughs]. Right? So I’m the guy in front…and people want to know “what are you doing?  What are you wearing? Who’s your inspiration?” Right? And I wanted to challenge myself. And I woke up and I was like “screw it”, I want to do something different. Now, my production company that produced the movie also produces FNL which is Fashion News Live. So I have the infrastructure to, let’s say, logistically and technically [laughs, looks down at my PLOOSH Hippo Accessory]

FoR: Yes, yes, actually one of your co-workers purchased one of my bags at the charity event yesterday

Rocco: YES! YES! My co-producer! Yes! That’s awesome

FoR: She’s such a sweetheart, she’s wonderful! I was so upset that I didn’t have a chance to meet her. They’re actually telling me to wrap it up but I have one more question for you.

Rocco: Yes, please, ask it!

FoR: Considering all the interviews that you’ve done, what do you wish people would ask you? I heard about the fantastic creativity I can relate to that. But what do YOU wish people would ask you?

Rocco: [pause] Well…how I think people can help other people that can’t help themselves.

FoR: Well, how can they?

Rocco: Pay it forward. Like, do a kind gesture. Smile to someone. Open a door for someone. Say thank you. Say please. At the end of the day that’s all we have, we’re all going to die naked. Right? And…I mean, there are only three things in life, you’re born, you pay tax and die…

FoR: Death and taxes…

Rocco: …everything else in between is what we do. I just…I get goose-bumps saying this, but I just believe so wholeheartedly that…this may sound so stupid and cheesy…but, but I believe it, that love is so important. Someone’s having a horrible day? Smile at them. And see…see how they respond. Pay it forward. I just gave an entire computer system to a kid that didn’t have parents anymore to help her. I felt bad for her so I just gave it to her…

FoR: Wow…thank you for that.

Rocco: No, thank you, I’ll see you inside.

FoR: Absolutely, very much looking forward to the screening. Thank you again for the interview and for sharing.